1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data processing apparatus and method which can perform data communication with various devices connected on a communication medium, and a storage medium or the like which stores a computer-readable program.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, devices such as a PC (personal computer), a printer, a scanner, a digital copying machine and a digital camera have been widespread, and also a network such as a LAN (local area network) has been widespread, whereby the need to share the printer, a modem and an image reading apparatus on the network increases. Thus, by sharing apparatuses and devices on the network, an environment capable of using all of them is in order.
However, there is no method of functionally combining these devices with others. For example, there is no method of combining the scanner with the printer or combining the digital copying machine with other scanner to realize a copying function. Further, even if there is such a method of combining the devices, a special device is necessary to perform this method, or only a specific device can perform this method. Thus, such the method is not general.
Further, in order to enable a user to grasp or see a structure of an entire system, a method of displaying such the structure is devised. However, when such the method nothing but displays a list of the devices, it is impossible to display, from a viewpoint of an arbitrary user as a starting point, a network system configuration in consideration of an environment in which the system structure is disposed. This is because, by such a display, the user can not visually and easily recognize the system structure at first sight. Further, by such the display, even when system resources used on the entire network and executing an identical function are displayed, such the resources are all displayed in undifferentiated manner. For example, plural printers connected on the network are all displayed simply by an identical icon or the like. Thus, it is impossible to discriminate the plural printers respectively having different functions only by such the displayed icons. Further, it is impossible to correlate the system structure with its operation status and display such correlative status.
Further, since operation status of the device selected by the user is not defined, the user can not confirm such the status until input and output processing ends. For example, since the user can not visually confirm the operation status of the selected device reflected on the network system configuration, he can not visually discriminate in the system configuration the operating device from other device or confirm by which device in the system the input and output processing is being performed.